Oyster cultch and assembly jig

ABSTRACT

A clutch for growing oysters comprising a plurality of rings connected together at a central point. The rings have surfaces suitable for the attachment of oyster spat. An assembly jig is utilized comprising a horizontal planar surface having a plurality of elongated apertures to support the rings in position for applying a fastener.

United States Patent Adams [54] OYSTER CULTCH AND ASSEMBLY JIG [72]Inventor: David A.Adarm, Wilmington, NC.

[73] Assignee: Ocean Data Systems, Inc., Bethesda,

221 Filed: July 16,1970

21 Appl.No.: 55,475

[52] U.S.Cl .Q. ..l19/4, 209/123 51 1m. (:1. ..A0lk 61/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..1 19/4 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,347,21010/1967 Golub ..1 19/4 [151 3,685,490 1451 Aug. 22, 1972 Hanks ..l19/4l/l971 Quayle ..l19/4 Primary Examiner-Aldrich F MedberyAttorney-Fidelman, Wolffe & Leitner 57 ABSTRACT A clutch for growingoysters comprising a plurality of rings connected together at a centralpoint. The rings have surfaces suitable for the attachment of. oysterspat. An assembly jigis utilized comprising a horizontal planar surfacehaving a plurality of elongated apertures to support the rings inposition for applying a fastener.

4 Claim, Drawing Figures PATENTED M1822 m2 SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTOR DAV/DA. ADAMS ATTORNEY PATENTED I973 3.685.490

sumznrz FIG. 5

I mvsmon amp ADAMS ATTORNEY OYSTER CULTCH AND ASSEMBLY J IG Thisinvention relates to an improved oyster cultch for the growing ofoysters and to an assembly jig for use in assembling the cultch.

The demand for oysters in this country has made the development of newoyster beds a necessity. An important aspect of developing oyster bedsis the provision cultch to provide points of attachment for the oysterspat. A major factor in the selection of the cultch is the ease withwhich the oysters can be removed from the cultch. Another factor andpossibly as important is that the cultch should provide attachmentsurfaces above the oyster bed base to protect the spat from suffocationdue to sediment deposition and from attack by many of the crawlingpredators of the water such as drills, starfish, crabs, etc.

Prior attempts of producing a successful cultch have included the use ofsuspended members that are supported above the oyster bed base by use ofmeans such as a rope or are mounted on poles or stakes that are placedon the oyster bed base. Although these types of cultch have satisfiedthe factors abovementioned they have been found to be rather costly touse as well as time consuming to set up since they involve the'use ofrope support means or the individual driving into the oyster bed base ofthe poles or stakes.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new andimproved oyster cultch tire will provide above the oyster bed baseattachment surfaces for oyster spat.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improvedoyster cultch which can be easily assembled and easily placed on theoyster bed base.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedoyster cultch which is easily lifted from the oyster bed base at thetime of the harvesting.

Still another object is to provide an improved oyster cultch that ismade of material that is non-corrosive and which can be reused a numberof times.

Still another object is to provide an assembly jig for the improvedoyster cultch that will permit fast assembly of the cultch.

Still another object is to provide an assembly jig for the improvedoyster cultch that is inexpensive and easy to manufacture.

The above outlined objectives as well as other objects and features ofthe present invention are accomplished by an oyster cultch the whichgenerally comprises a plurality of rings such as tire beads that areconnected together at a central point by a suitable clamp. The assemblyjig comprises a base member having a plurality of apertures to supportthe tire beads in position for applying the fastener.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the improved oyster cultch of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view partly in section of the type of ringpreferably used in the improved oyster cultch;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the fastener used as the connectingmeans in the present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts several of the improved oyster cultches in an oyster bedwith oysters growing on the rings;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the assembly jig used in assembling theimproved oyster cultch; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing the oyster cultch inassembled condition.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein like reference numeralsindicate like parts throughout the several figures, there is shown theimproved oyster cultch C of the present invention comprising a pluralityof rings 10 connected together at a central point by means of a fastener12. l

The rings 10 are preferably formed of tire beads that are used on motorvehicle tires. These beads generally include a metal strip 14 which iscovered by rubber 16. The beads are separated from the main body of thetire in reprocessing and are readily available from tire reclaimers andare very inexpensive. The tire beads fulfill all the. necessaryrequirements for the rings to be used in the present invention. They arenon-corrosive becauseof the rubber covering 16 and they are strong yetflexible because of the metal strip 14. Additionally, the rubber surfaceof the beads is slightly-roughened thereby providing a surface suitablefor attachment by the oyster spat.

Of course, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that othertypes of rings may be suitably used; however, it has been found thattire beads, especially of the larger 15 or 16 inch size, areparticularly well adapted for use as the rings of the present invention.Although it is possible to mix different sizes of tire beads it ispreferable that a sufficient number of the largest size used be evenlydistributed about the fastener 12 in order to provide a level base forthe oyster cultch.

The number of rings 10 used in each oyster cultch C may vary dependingon the density of the oysters desired on each cultch. It has been foundthat a minimum of four rings to a maximum of twelve rings can be readilyused.

The rings 10 are assembled by use of fastener 12 which as shown in FIG.3 may be a clamp commonly used to secure radiator hoses in motorvehicles. The fastener 12 which is preferably made of stainless steel toresist corrosion comprises a strap element 18 having at one end a screwmember 20 adapted to engage slots 22 on the other end of the strapelement 18. The slots 22 constitute a rack which is moved by the screwmember to tighten or loosen the strap element 18.

It will be appreciated that other suitable fasteners may be used such asany of the numerous strap I fasteners used to tie wires or tubestogether; however, the stainless steel hose clamp is preferable from thestandpoint of its ready availability, its positive locking action andits low cost.

In assembling the oyster cultch C, the ring members 10 to be used arestacked together and one end of the fastener strap element 18 is passedthrough the ring openings and then brought together with the other endof the fastener strap element 18. The rings are then moved to form auniform distribution of rings about the fastener which is then tightenedso that the portion of each ring in contact with the fastener is tightlyabutted against the adjacent rings. Each ring will then be retained inposition with respect to the adjacent rings.

To simplify the assembling process, the assembly jig shown in FIGS. 5and 6 may be utilized. The assembly jig comprises a horizontal planarsurface 24 mounted on leg supports 26. The planar surface 24 has thereona used in the cultch. g

' rings.

' elongated aperture is'smaller than the diameter of the smallest sizetire bead to be used .in the cultch. Although only eight apertures 28are shown, it should be appreciated that additional apertures can beused depending on the maximum number of tire beads to be As will beobvious, the planar surface 24 may be placed on any suitable support tobring the surface 24 to a convenient working height. ln all cases thesupport must provide sufficient space beneath the elongated apertures28to permit entry of the lower portions of each tire bead through theapertures.

In using the jig for assembling the cultch, the number of tire beads tobe used in the cultch are placed in the apertures 28 and .one end of thefastener strap element 18 is passed through the ring openings and thenbrought together with the other end of the fastener strap element 18.The fastener is then tightened so that i the portion of each ring incontact with the fastener is tightly abutted against the adjacent rings.Each ring will then be retained in position with respect to the adjacentIn use the assembled oyster cultches C are dropped boat which permitsthe placing of the individual rings t on the boat rather thanthe'assembled cultch which t would take up considerably more room. Also,the rings provide readymade openings to receive a rope or hookforbringing the cultches aboard a'boat forremoving I the oysters. I

it will be seen that theobjects set forth are efficiently attained andsince certain changes may be made in the above construction withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatters contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and overboard from a boatto rest on the oyster bed base as shown for purposes of illustration inFIG. 4. The configuration of the cultch in which the rings radiate fromthe central fastener insures that each cultch will rest on the bottomsof each ring in thecultch thereby providing a stable support for theoysters 0. The curvature of the rings insures that the major portion ofeach ring will be above the bottom surface thus providing a safe placefor attachment of the oyster spat.

The oyster cultches may be easily assembled on the i not in a limitingsense.

What is claimed is:

l. A cultch for growing oysters comprising an assembly of a plurality ofopen ring members and means for connecting said'ring. members together,said ring members having inner and outer circumferential surfacessuitable forthe attachment of oyster spat, said ring members beingpositioned about a central axis of said cultch assembly, each of saidring members extending outwardly from said axis in a different radialdirection, said connecting means joining the ring members about a commonlocation on the centralaxis.

2. The cultch of claim 1 wherein thering members are uniformly spacedabout the central axis and each ring member has an outer portionabutting corresponding portions of the adjacent ring members on eachside g fiie cultch of claim 1 wherein the ring members are bead portionsof motor vehicle tires.

4. The cultch of claim 1 wherein said connecting means includes a strapmember and a strap member engaging means, said strap member passingthrough each opening of each ring member and being adjustably secured insaid strap member engaging means. 7

1. A cultch for growing oysters comprising an assembly of a plurality ofopen ring members and means for connecting said ring members together,said ring members having inner and outer circumferential surfacessuitable for the attachment of oyster spat, said ring members beingpositioned about a central axis of said cultch assembly, each of saidring members extending outwardly from said axis in a different radialdirection, said connecting means joining the ring members about a commonlocation on the central axis.
 2. The cultch of claim 1 wherein the ringmembers are uniformly spaced about the central axis and each ring memberhas an outer portion abutting corresponding portions of the adjacentring members on each side thereof.
 3. The cultch of claim 1 wherein thering members are bead portions of motor vehicle tires.
 4. The cultch ofclaim 1 wherein said connecting means includes a strap member and astrap member engaging means, said strap member passing through eachopening of each ring member and being adjustably secured in said strapmember engaging means.